James Rizzi (October, 1950) is a prominent American pop artist, who was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York.
Education and Technique
Rizzi studied Fine Arts at the University of Florida at Gainesville, Florida. He came up with the idea of 3D multiples now mostly associated with his name when, having taken classes in painting, printmaking and sculpturing, he had to hand in grade work for all three subjects, but only had time for doing one. So he created an etching, printed it twice, handcolored it, and mounted parts of the one print on top of the other, using wire as a means of adding depth. Having received good grades from all three teachers, he stuck with the idea and developed it further.
Artist Bio
| Year | Projects |
|---|---|
| 1974 | Rizzi graduated from University of Florida and had his first exhibitions in outdoor art shows in Washington Square Park and Brooklyn Heights, New York. |
| 1975 | Design of a 150 ft. outdoor mural in New York City (the building was demolished in 1985). |
| 1977 | Participation in the exhibition "Thirty Years of American Printmarking, including the 20th National Print Exhibition" at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. |
| 1980 | Rizzi designed the album cover artwork for the first album of Tom Tom Club. |
| 1981/83 | Rizzi created the animation for two music video clips of Tom Tom Club. |
| 1987 | Japanese television produces a film about Rizzi. |
| 1988 | The first book about Rizzi is being published: "James Rizzi - 3D Constructions". |
| 1988-90 | Various design projects in Japan. |
| 1992 | The second book about Rizzi is being published: Glenn O'Brien, "Rizzi". |
| 1993 | Rizzi designs the ring coat for German boxer Henry Maske. |
| 1994 | Design of china for Rosenthal and of a limited MetroCard for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York). |
| 1996 | Publication of "The New York Paintings" book. Rizzi is the official artist of the 1996 Olympic Summer Games in Atlanta, Georgia. He designs the exterior shell of a Boeing 757 for Lufthansa's charter airline Condor Airlines - the so-called "Rizzi Bird". |
| 1997 | Official artist for the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. Retrospective in Brooklyn, New York and declaration of the opening day as "James Rizzi Day" by the mayor of Brooklyn. |
| 1998 | Artist of the year, United States Sports Academy. Official Artist, FIFA World Cup, France. Official participation in the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. |
| 1999 | Design of three Volkswagen New Beetles for Volkswagen. Desing of covers for 15 volume Brockhaus encyclopedia. |
| 2000 | Participation in CowParade, New York City. Work for UNICEF and the Japanese Railway. |
| 2001 | Opening of the "Happy Rizzi House", an office building designed by Rizzi in Braunschweig, Germany. |
| 2002 | Front page design for a newspaper in Hamburg, Germany. Design of a Teddy bear for Steiff. Design of three light railway cars for Heilbronn, Germany. Official participation in the World Economic Forum in New York City. |
Style
Rizzi is most famous for his 3D artwork, "especially the large, elaborate prints and teeming anthropomorphic cityscapes. His merry maximalism and delight in delirious detail and elaborate minutiae created a true art brand, a trademark style as recognizable as any in the world". Recently, he has also returned to painting. His "latest paintings combine his Picasso meets Hanna-Barbera drawing style with an increasingly chromatic palette and a complex graphic structure that simultaneously evokes cubism and the most sophisticated Amerindian friezes." (Quotes from Glenn O'Brien, Foreword to "James Rizzi", 2006, with kind permission of the publisher).
Charity Projects
- RTL Spendenmarathon - Design of logo for German television children's charity.
- SWR Herzenssache - Donation of artwork for German radio children's charity.
- Gone with the wind Charity - Donation of a complete edition of artwork to the German Lions Club Krefeld Rheintor.
- Peter Maffay: Encounters - an alliance for children - Cooperation with Peter Maffay for his children's charity "Encounters" and the Lakota Circle School in South Dakota.
Weblinks
- Template:PND
- www.james-rizzi.com - Official Homepage of James Rizzi
Books
- James Rizzi: New York. Prestel 1996, ISBN 3-7913-1644-3
- James Rizzi, Peter Bührer: Mein New York Kochbuch. Hahn 1997, ISBN 3-87287-432-2
- James Rizzi, Peter Bührer: American Cookies and more. Südwest 2000, ISBN 3-517-06323-1
- James Rizzi, Glenn O`Brien: James Rizzi. Artwork 1993-2006, Art28 2006, ISBN 3-9811238-0-8